Stiffening member



Patented Feb. 4, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE STIFFENING MEMBER New York Application August 25,

4 Claims.

This invention relates an improved stiffening member, particularly to stiffening members of the type which may be used in association With garments, belts, cuffs, collars, or the 1ike.

II: is an object of the invention to provide an improved stiffening member having the desired character of stiffness so that II; Will serve in the proper manner 110 stiifen and reenforce the garments or other articles With which II; is US8d but which nevertheless is flexible so that it may band or y1eld in response to excess pressure without breaking anti is resilient so that iI; will return 110 its normal position when the pressure is released. Another object is the provision of an improved. method or process of manufacturing a stiffening member of the above character.

In the accompanying drawing Fig. 1 is a plan view partially broken away of a,

stiffening member embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view partially b-r0ken away of the stifiening member;

Fig 3 is a, sectional view on the Iine 33 0f Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a, perspective view showing a portion of the stifiening rib in an intermediate st'age in the manufacture there:of;

Fig. 5 is e fra-gmentary perspective view of an outer casing which may be used in connection With my improved stiffening rib;

Fi g. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view 0f a portion of a sheath used in connection with my stiffening rib; and

Fig'. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of one of the types of stiffening strip- Which may be used in connection with this device.

My improve:d stiffening member preferably embodies one or more relatively thin, stiff, but nevertheless flexible and. resilient. strips which are encasecl in a sheath of textile fabric formed of threads of a, plastic material which are partially disintegraced so as 110 cause the sheath to shrink and tightly engage the strip and we1d or bind the entire assembly into a unitary mass. An outer casing in the form of a fabric tube may then be placed around the assembly.

As the stiffening strips I use: one 01' more strips II) made of a resisting stiff material but which is nevertheless flexible so that it Will yield without breaking when excess pressure is applied to it and Which is also resilient or springy so that it Will return to its normal position when the pressure is released. F01 this purpose I ma.y employ strips formed of cellulose or cellulose compounds 1939, Serial N0. 291,865

such as pyroxylin, cellulose acetate or the like. I-Iowever, I prefer to employ a laminate d strip of the type disclosed composed of two thin surface layers II made of rgenerated cellulose such as Cellophane and an intermediate 1ayer I2 made of ramie or similar ber adhesively secured together in a well-known manner. Laminated "Cellophane o-f this character is well known 120 those skilled in the art and. is commercially available.

As previously stated I may employ one or more strips although as a practicatl matter I have found that for most purposes II; is desirable to employ a, plurality of strips in order to obtain the desired stiffness. For example, in the accompanying drawing I illustrate four strips which in practical experience has produced satisfactory results.

The stiffem'ng strips II) 'are arranged in superimposed fashion and. are inserted in a sheath I4 formed of a, fabric tube of a sufiicient diameter to receive the strips and leave a slight clearanc'e as shown in Fig. 4. 'I'he fabric tubemay be made in any desired fashion but is preferably made 011 a braiding machine and it is formed of threads of plastic material such as cellulose esters and for this purpose I prefer to employ cellu1ose acetate. Where the tube is made on a, braidiing machine the superimposed strips II] may be used as a. core and the taube may be braided d'irectly around the strips. After the strips II) have thus been encased in the sheath I4 they are secured together and to the sheath by means of a 1ine of stitching I5 as shown most clearly in Fig. 4.

Thereafter the material forming I)he threads of shea.th I4 .is partially plasticized and then dried with the result that the sheath shrinks and. tightly engages the encased strips and the entire assembly is welded into a, unitary structure by means of the plastio material. 'Ihe plasticizing action may result either from a, suitable solvent ior the plastic material or from heat where a. thermo-plastic material is employed.

As statecl above, in the preferred form cf my invention the threads are made of cellulose acetate and in this instance to plasticize the material the assembly of strips anal sheath are preierably passed through a bath containing a Suitab1e cellulose acetate solvent such as a mixture of acetone and alcohol, a, mixture cf alcohl and chloroform, 01' alcohol and benzol, or glacial acetic acid. After passing through the bath the cellulose acetate yarns are partially plasticized so that some of the plastic material enters the in1zerstices in the shea1:h and. between 1:he strips anal 1;he sheath. Thereafter the solvent is evaporated away as by the application of hea1: Which may be accomplished by passing the assembly thr0ugh heated ducts. When the solven1: has evaporated avvay, the sheath 14 shrinks to a. size 130 tightly engage 1:he stiflening strips I0 and the cellulose acetate which was plasticized serves as a filler and binding agent as indicated by the small dots in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, stifiening antd reenforcing the sheath and binding 1she entire assembly into a unitary structure;

After the assembly has been thus treated i1; may be used directly without any further treatment.as a stiffem'ng member er, if pref erred, it may be encased in 21 fabric 1:ube16 which may be composed 0f 1:W0 strips of tex1zile fabric such as woven co1:ton secured together a10ng their longitudinal edges a1: the tW0 sides of ehe stiffening strip as indicated a1: I'l.

My improved stiffening strip may be used in a well-known manner in connection with foundation and o1:her undergarments or in connection With outer garmentx I1: may also be used 1:0 stifien andreenforce belting, cuffs, collars, and in other associations Where*stiffening members are employed.

It.will be appreciated from the foregoing description of myinvention tha1: I ha-ve provided an improved stifiening agen1; having the desired characteristics of stiffness and resiliency and Which is relatively inexpensive and may be manufac1:ured from materials which are readily avail able. 111 will also be appreciated tha1: I have provided an improved process for manufacturing stiffening members 0f the above character which isrelatively simple 1:0 carry out and requires a minimum o:t' Labor.

Whi1e I have illustrated and described a pre- -fr'red; embodiment of my invention it should be understood of c0urse tha1: modiflcations may be made wi1:hout departing fr0m the invention as se1fforth in 1:he accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. A stifiening member comprising a plurality of superimposed thin, elongated strips formed 0f a stiff resilient cellulose material, a, fabric sheath formed 0f threads of plastic material tightly encasing the strips and stitching securing the strips and sheath together, the threads of the sheath being partially disintegrated so tha1: the plastic material thereof serves as a filler 130 stiffen nd reenforce the sheath and as a binder 1:0 bind the strips and shea1:h into a. unitary structure.

2. A stifiening member as se1: forth in claim 1 in which 1:he strips are made of laminated plies 0f1egenerat'ed Cellulose and fiber and the threads of 1:he fabric sheath are made of cellulose acetate.

3. 'I'he method of making a stiffening member which comprises firs1: providing a plurality of relatively thin, elongated strips of stiff resilient cellulose materia1 and a sheath formed of threads of plastic material, then encasing 1:he strips in the sheath and securing them together by means of stitching, next, partially plasticizing the threads of 1she sheath so as 1:0 cause 1:he sheath to shrink and so as 120 cause the plastic material to flow into ehe interstices in the sheath and between the strips and sheath, and finally solidifying the plastic material so as cause the plasticizedportion thereof 1:0 serve as a. filler 1:0 stiften and reenforce 1:he shea1:h and as a. binder 110 bind the strips andsheath into a, unitary structure.

4. An elongated stifiening member comprising a plurality of superimposed thin elongated laminated strips each formed of layers of regenerated cellulose and ber, a fabric sheath formed of threads of plas1:ic materia-l tightly encasing the strips and stitching securing the strips and sheath together, the threads of the sheath being partially disintegrated so tha1: the plastic material thereof serves as a fi11er t0- stiflen and reenforce the sheath and as a. binder 1:0 bind the strips and sheath 1:0 a unitary structure.

ARTHUR W. U-ELLENDAHL. 

